Tehran 9 January 2026 #2

9 January 2026

Supreme Leader Khamenei called protestors “vandals” and “saboteurs” who were “ruining their own streets … in order to please the president of the U.S. because he said that he would come to their aid”. He also warned that “the Islamic Republic came to power through the blood of several hundred thousand honourable people and it will not back down in the face of those who deny this”. Relatedly, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said: “This is what the Americans and Israelis have stated, that they are directly intervening in the protests in Iran… They are trying to transform the peaceful protests into divisive and violent ones”.